U.S. soldiers murdered 24 Iraqis in 2005 in what came to be called the Haditha massacre. In the years since, all of the soldiers involved have been tried and gone without due punishment, having their cases dismissed or their charges cleared.

The last U.S. soldier prosecuted for the massacre, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, pled guilty to dereliction of duty, while his original charges of involuntary manslaughter were dismissed. He, like the others, will serve no jail time.

“The ruling does not fit the crime,” said Ali al-Moussawi, media adviser to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. “We will seek legal means to maintain the rights of the innocents citizens who were killed in the incident. We will follow whatever course we can follow legally.”

Military authorities in the U.S. have issued no comment. Neal Puckett, Wuterich’s attorney said: “We have no comment about the stated intentions of the Iraqi government. Our client’s military justice case has concluded. So far as we are concerned, the matter is closed.”

Sadly, I suspect this is political motivated hand-waving for the benefit of the Iraqi populace. If the Iraqi govt was really concerned, they could immediately get the attention of the US by putting on hold the various contracts for US military equipment.

All Maliki needs to do is emulate Obama and declare himself the arbiter of life and death of accused enemies of the state, then declare that he has the right to kill the Marines at any time, anywhere in the world, with no legal oversight or due process. How can Obama possibly object since he himself is the role model?

On the other hand, earthly trials aside, those Marines know exactly what happened and each one of them will have to answer to God on Judgement Day.